The French people have been protesting new labor laws for a couple of weeks, but what I find particular interesting is the potential for these gatherings to turn into a full fledged political movement.
We all know by now that the status quo doesn’t care if the peasants get out in the streets for a few days to blow off some steam after being raped and pillaged by politicians. What really worries them; however, is when people get together, start talking to each other and then form cohesive movements. With “Nuit Debout,” or “Up All Night,” this may be happening in France.
Reuters reported the following yesterday:
The “Nuit Debout” or “Up all Night” movement began on March 31 when a group of activists decided not to go home after a march against labor reform, said 35-year-old Simon, a theater worker and one of the volunteers who greets newcomers.
Crowds ranging from several hundred to a few thousand have gathered every evening since then for a spontaneous happening that is a mixture of street theater, party and ritual initiation for a new generation of activists.
“Nuit Debout is a problem for Hollande because it’s largely his 2012 voters who are taking to the street and saying ‘We were fooled. Never again’,” Socialist lawmaker Malek Boutih told Le Monde daily.
Sound familiar?
Hollande made a big play for the youth vote in his 2012 election campaign and is now considering whether to run again in 2017 despite record low approval ratings.
The all-night sit-ins spread to some 60 towns around the provinces at the weekend, worrying the government sufficiently for it to announce about 500 million euros in extra subsidies for young job seekers on Monday.
Protesters say the latest handouts to students and apprentices miss the point.
“The thinking behind the ‘Nuit Debout’ is to find new confidence in our own strength precisely because we don’t trust those who rule us any more,” 20-year-old political science student Victor said.
So far, the numbers are far from achieving the critical mass to sustain a nationwide movement. School and university holidays starting next week and exams after the break could well add to protest fatigue, analysts said, noting that the Indignados and Occupy movements eventually fizzled.
For Viavoice’s Miquet-Marty, while ‘Nuit Debout’ is too disorganized for now to threaten the system, “it would be dangerous for the government to let it get bigger.”
Which is precisely what makes it so interesting.
While we’re at it, I want to share an incredible video shot at the recent Kidapawan protests in the Philippines. Watch it all the way through.
It’s an interesting lesson of what can happen if enough people stand their ground.
For related articles, see:
Unusually Massive Protests Erupt in Japan Against Forthcoming “War Legislation”
How the Department of Homeland Security Monitored and Tracked Peaceful “Black Lives Matter” Protests
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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The poor French. I guess 32 hours a week is just more than they can handle.
You can protest all you want: economic laws are not negotiable. If they are not careful they will end up like Greece. Or the Soviet Union: they will pretend to work and the government will pretend to pay them.
Pretend to pay….isn’t what the U.S. engages in every day with their infinite fiat Ken? NO settlement….
Yes, yes it is. It’s what everyone has been doing since 1971.
But as they say, something that cannot go on forever will stop. But, just because it is inevitable does not mean it is imminent. Look at Japan.